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They can be part of a larger system. Multiple features contribute to the stormwater management in this South Carolina garden. The rain garden includes iris, hosta and blue star creeper. A bioswale, designed to move and drain water, drains into the garden. Show us: Have you installed a rain garden at home? Upload a photo in the Comments below.

Planted areas. Pictured here is a full rain garden with a combination of ground covers and grasses. Rain gardens are depressions in the landscape near runoff sites specifically designed to store water before allowing it to infiltrate into the soil. Rain garden plants sustain periods of drought followed by flooding and help clean out the chemicals and contaminants in stormwater as it infiltrates the soil. Rain gardens can store and cleanse large amounts of runoff from rooftops and other large surfaces. You can also direct downspouts directly to rain gardens through swales. The Rain Garden Alliance can help you approximate the appropriate rain garden dimensions for your yard, based on your house’s surface area, average rainfall per rain event and other factors. Read more about rain gardens